Cancun
Negotiating Deadlines
After
the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference (in process)
"Single undertaking"
negotiations on:
- Implementation
(Ministerial Declaration para. 13).
- Agriculture (Ministerial
Declaration para. 13).
- Services (Ministerial
Declaration para. 15).
- Industrial tariffs
(Ministerial Declaration para. 16).
- Subsidies (clarifying
and improving existing disciplines, including fisheries subsidies; Ministerial
Declaration para. 28).
- Anti-dumping (clarifying
and improving existing disciplines; Ministerial Declaration para. 29).
- Regional trade
agreements (clarifying and improving existing disciplines, Ministerial
Declaration para. 29).
- Environment (WTO/MEA
relationship; information exchange between the WTO and MEA Secretariats,
and reduction/elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers for environmental
goods and services; Ministerial Declaration para. 31).
Negotiations on
a separate track:
- Dispute Settlement
Understanding (clarifying and improving the DSU; Ministerial Declaration
para. 30).
December
2001
Technical Assistance
- Ministerial Declaration para. 40: The General Council was to adopt a
plan ensuring long-term funding of WTO's technical assistance activities.
Consensus was reached. For more details, see the Doha
Round Briefing Series on Technical Assistance and Capacity-building.
31
January 2002
First Meeting
of the Trade Negotiations Committee - Ministerial Declaration para.
46.
30
June 2002
Services -
Submission of initial requests for specific commitments - Ministerial
Declaration para. 15.
31
July 2002
Textiles -
Implementation Decision paras 4.4 and 4.5.
Council for Trade in Goods was to report to the General Council on calculating
quota levels for small suppliers and advancing growth-on-growth implementation.
No solution has been found.
Special and Differential
Treatment - Implementation Decision paras 12(i) and (ii) and Ministerial
Declaration para. 44. The Committee on Trade and Development was unable
to report "with clear recommendations for action" to the General
Council on the mandated elements of its review of all S&D provisions.
Although the deadline was postponed several times (to February 2003),
no decision has been taken.
Subsidies
- Implementation Decision para. 10.3.
Countervailing duties: In the 30 July 2002 report submitted by the SCM
Committee Chair to the General Council on [his] own responsibility,
Ambassador Milan Hovorka announced that he had not been able to
identify any significant basis for a consensus on any specific suggestion
by the Committee in terms of the substantive aspects of the review or
with respect to any next step.
Transition periods: Members were able to agree to extend the transition
period for subsidy programs provided for in Article 27.4 of the Agreement
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.
For more details,
see the Doha
Round Briefing Series on Implementation-related Issues and Concers.
Mid
November 2002
Anti-dumping
- Implementation Decision paras 7.2-7.4.
Article 15: The Chair of the Anti-dumping Committee reported to the General
Council that Members’ positions were “substantially divergent” and that
he was “unable to identify any significant basis for consensus on a recommendation
[...]”.
Article 5.8: Members found a consensus concerning ways to provide maximum
possible predictability and objectivity in the application of time frames
to be used when determining if imports from developing countries are negligible
(under three percent) and thus excluded from dumping duties.
Article 18: Members found a solution.
For more details, see the Doha
Round Briefing Series on Implementation-related Issues and Concers.
End
2002
TRIPS: Compulsory
Licensing - Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health para.6.
TRIPS Council was to recommend solutions to the General Council on problems
encountered by Members with an insufficient manufacturing capacity to
make effective use of compulsory licensing. Despite long and intense negotiations,
Members could not reach consensus. For more details, see the Doha
Round Briefing Series on Intellectual Property Rights.
Outstanding Implementation
Issues - Ministerial Decision para. 12(b).
Relevant WTO bodies were to report to the Trade Negotiations Committee
- for appropriate action - on their work on implementation issues for
which the Ministerial Declaration does not provide a specific mandate.
No solution has been found.
31
March 2003
Agriculture
- Modalities for further commitments to be agreed (Ministerial Declaration
para. 14).
Trade in Services
- Initial offers (Ministerial Declaration para. 15).
May
2003
End of Negotiations
on Amending the Dispute Settlement Understanding - Ministerial Declaration
para. 30.
31 May 2003
Market Access
- Members to agree on modalities for market access for non-agricultural
products.
Fall
2003
FIFTH WTO MINISTERIAL
CONFERENCE.
Reports on full range of issues in the work programme agreed in Doha;
including those relating to the trade of small economies; progress in
the examination of issues related to trade, debt and finance; and trade
and technology transfer.
New Issues
- Ministerial Declaration paras 20-27
Members to decide by "explicit consensus" modalities (including whether/when)
for launching negotiations on investment, competition policy, transparency
in government procurement and trade facilitation.
Environment
- Ministerial Declaration paras. 32 & 33
Members to report to Fifth Ministerial Conference and make recommendations,
where appropriate, with respect to future action, including the desirability
of negotiations. Members also to report on technical assistance and capacity
building activities.
Agriculture
- Ministerial Declaration para. 14
Members to submit comprehensive draft Schedules "no later than the fifth
Ministerial Conference".
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